There's a lot of text in the YouTube video Description for this one, so I'll keep my addition here brief*, then copy/paste all of it below the break (click "explore further" at the bottom of post).
West Bloomfield 2012 Singles Exercise @ YouTube
Basically, this is a singles exercise that incorporates Moeller stroke motion, and also works a few other skills at the same time. If you aren't acquainted with Moeller, you may find yourself very tense when trying to play this exercise- if that's the case here (or ever), dial the tempo back big time, and create a simple exercise for yourself to analyze your stroke motion (preferably in a mirror). [don't fret: I'll probably end up making a post about Moeller/singles eventually]
The gist of the exercise is basically that you have to start with relaxed wrists before you can think about using your arm to lift for the slightly accented notes (which creates a somewhat "circular" motion that is natural to repeat/loop).
YouTube Description:
Some of the singles stuff we've been working on along with some music, this time it's "Warm Hands in Cold Fog" by "The Flashbulb". This track clocks in at about 182 bpm.
The first section consists of 4 bars each (in 4/4) of each of the eight 1-bar patterns displayed on the right-hand side of the screen. "3+5" = 3 eighth notes plus 5 eighth notes per bar, with accents on the "3" (beat 1) and "5" ("&" of beat 2). This section is played as all double-stops (try not to flam as many notes as I do! gross)
In the second section, there are "LONG" and "SHORT" versions of patterns 1, 2, and 3 from above (3+5, 1+3+4, 2+3+3). The LONG pattern is 2 bars of double-stop check followed by 2 bars of "hands split" naturally-sticked (R-L-R-L-etc.) singles, for 4 bars total. The SHORT pattern is 1 bar of check followed by 1 bar of singles. For each of the patterns, LONG, or SHORT, you can chose for yourself where to start the "hands split" singles, whether that's right on the downbeat (beat 1), or on the first accent (in this video, pattern 1 singles begin on the downbeat, pattern 2 singles start on the first accent ("&" of beat 1), and pattern 3 singles begin on the downbeat (with the exception of the blip at the beginning of pat3LONG1)). Do whatever you'd like to do; these are only examples.
Note how you get back into each double-stop pattern after playing a bar of singles!! -- Most of the transitions will involve dropping the left hand out of the first couple double-stops (usually bringing the LH back in on the first accent after getting out of the singles). Also, be aware that you can do the LONG-LONG-SHORT-SHORT-LONG hand splits for any of the 8 patterns listed above, and some of them are more fun than the first 3 I played here -- mix it up!
The last thing on the video is your 8-bar exercise ("It's a trap!") that incorporates some of these different beats.
The purpose of this exercise is to develop the "whip-like", relaxed Moeller stroke motion which will help you achieve some fun things (like fast singles). Keep your chest, shoulders, upper arms, lower arms, wrists, and fingers relaxed to set yourself up for success. Do use a bit of arm (combined with the wrist motion) to create the loose "whip-like" gesture necessary for decent stroke motion. Don't overplay the accent or tap heights -- think low and with subtle difference, like "6-to-3" -- this really can't be played at faster tempos with stiff wrists and down-stroked accents, so relax and think "flow"
Exercises by Derek Smith. Background music ("Warm Hands in Cold Fog") by "The Flashbulb". Drumming and video editing by Derek Smith. This was shot in one take and was the best shot of a few reps; it's nowhere near error-free, so if you'd like to upload your own better version, be my guest! Contact me with any questions and feel free to leave comments.
Also, don't expect these sort of production values and super long posts to be very common on this blog- I already had this content on hand, so I figured I'd open up the site with a bang. Enjoy!
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